Abandoning the traditional fuels will have a slew of positive effects

19 april 2016
| Rossiyskaya Gazeta

Gradual abandonment of the traditional fuels where possible is a global trend. It is going to happen to Russia as well, where the housing and communal sector and the public consume a quarter of all the energy produced. And it is in this sector, experts believe, that there is huge potential for drastically reducing the consumption of hydrocarbons, which, according to the estimates of the Analytical Center, make up 99.7% of the energy used in the housing and communal services.

Victoria GimadiDepartment for Fuel and Energy Sector

In the meantime, just about anything can in theory be used
for heating, including stuff we literally walk on such as peat, saw dust, wood
splinters as well as such more civilized fuels as wood pellets. It does not
mean, however, that all municipal boilers should immediately make a transition
to wood.
Rossiyskaya Gazeta journalists said it was rather strange
to see a boiler room of a saw mill or a pulp and paper factory burning
expensive fuel oil even as sitting right next to it were mountains of free
splinters or saw dust.

The Head of the Department for Fuel and Energy
Sector of the Analytical Center Victoria Gimadi believes that a whole
bunch of positives may result from switching to such cheap alternative fuels.
“Investors can make a clean profit. The producers of priority fuels can also
make an extra ruble while the consumers will pay less for their heat. In the
meantime, treasuries at all levels will get extra revenue and save money,” the
expert explained in an interview with the correspondent.